excerpts:Online Gambling Loses Bet On US Ok (NY Post, 12/18/07)“Online gambling firms were dealt a big blow yesterday after Europe agreed to settle a trade dispute that could have forced the US to legalize Internet betting. European online gambling sites, which had to fold their cards in the US last year when Congress passed legislation to crack down on betting over the Web, had claimed they were owed $100 billion in lost profit potential.”

U.S. reaches deal with EU, Japan, Canada on gambling (Reuters, 12/17/07)
“The United States has reached a deal with the European Union, Japan and Canada to keep its Internet gambling market closed to foreign companies, but is continuing talks with India, Antigua and Barbuda, Macau and Costa Rica, U.S. trade officials said on Monday. “We are pleased to confirm that the United States has reached agreement … with Canada, the EU and Japan,” Gretchen Hamel, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office, said in a statement several hours after the EU had announced details of the deal it had reached with Washington.”

3 senators vow to block gaming bill (Saipan Tribune, 12/19/07)“Proponents of the Saipan gaming bill may well consider it dead, as three senators vow to oppose the bill even before the bill makes it to the Senate floor. The Saipan gaming proposal is expected to be the main topic of discussion at the Senate session this morning. The House-approved bill needs at least seven votes to pass the Senate and be on its way to the governor. But with at least three of the nine senators voicing their opposition, passage of the bill seems unlikely.”